History Recap / TalesFromTheDarksideS1E8TheWordProcessorOfTheGods

Struggling writer Richard Hagstrom (Creator/BruceDavison) is plagued by financial troubles and his abusive family, including his gold-digging wife Adeline and his layabout son Seth. His brother and his family, including genius nephew Johnathan, recently died in an car accident, and among their personal affects, Richard receives a homemade computer Johnathan made for him as a birthday present. Experimenting with the computer, Richard discovers that every sentence he types into it is capable of altering reality, providing him with a quick fix to his problems.

* DeceasedParentsAreTheBest: Played with, thought it falls more under "Deceased Sister-in-Laws and Nephews are the best". Richard's nephew Johnathan was a bright and promising prodigy, and his mother Belinda was as beautiful as she was kind.

* AssholeVictim: Adeline and Seth aren't nice people in the slightest, so no tears are shed when Richard "deletes" them from existence.

* DrunkDriver: Richard's brother killed his family by sailing their car off a cliff. Given that he was established to be a heavy drinker, it's possibly he had a few stiff ones while behind the wheel.

* TheAllegedComputer: The homemade word processor Jonathan created for his uncle is a subversion. It's very noticeably ramshankle and struggles with mundane text processing, but when it's commanded to rewrite Richard's life, it does so flawlessly. The last command Richard writes with it, to have his wife and son replaced by Belinda and Johnathan, is completed just before the thing finally explodes.

!The Word Processor of the Gods

Struggling writer Richard Hagstrom (Creator/BruceDavison), who is plagued by financial troubles and his abusive family, receives a homemade computer sent by his beloved deceased nephew prior to his death that has the ability to change reality.

!!This episode provides examples of:

* AssholeVictim: Richard's wife and son aren't exactly nice people, so little tears are shed when Richard "deletes" them from existence.
** Richard's brother also falls under this category. Between his [[TheAlcoholic alcoholism]] and Richard's not-so-fond description, he wasn't the nicest guy when he was alive.
* BigBrotherBully: According to Richard, his brother used to do every horrible thing conceivable to him when he was alive. That alone tells you he wasn't a good person in life.
* DeceasedParentsAreTheBest: Played with. It's more like "Deceased Sister-in-Law and Nephews are the best". Richard's nephew was a bright and promising prodigy, and the boy's mother was beautiful as she was kind.
* EarnYourHappyEnding: Richard no longer has to put up with a reality where the girl of his dreams married and had a family with his abusive brother, and his own wife and kid are no better. Thanks to the Word Processor, he's married to that wonderful woman, and her genius son is their own son now.

** Richard tries to ask his son Seth to help out with heavy boxes like any father would a willing, strong-backed son. Instead, whilst occupied with practicing his guitar, Seth loudly grouses "Later!"
** Whilst Richard's away, his wife Adelina [[ItsAllAboutMe complains about the costly funeral arrangements]] of Richard's brother, nephew, and sister-in-law, instead of treating it sensitively like the tragedy it is. She also implies she only married Richard for the prospect of his book-writing career, showing she's a GoldDigger as well as a cheapskate.
* KickTheDog: When Richard kindly points out to Adelina that today is his birthday out of hope she might [[PetTheDog throw him a bone]], she instead snidely teases that if he makes a wish, he'll get money.
* [[LikeFatherLikeSon Like Mother Like Son]]: Whenever Seth's guitar practice blows out the circuits, he likes to call out "BINGO!" Given his mother spends all her nights at Bingo, it's little wonder where he got it from.
* ParentalSubstitute: Richard's nephew may have been born to an alcoholic father, but he viewed Richard more like a father than any man.
* RewritingReality: The word processor that Richard comes in possession of has the power to make whatever's typed into it a reality, and to make it disappear when it's deleted.

!!"The Word Processor of the Gods" provides examples of:

Writer Richard Hagstrom (Creator/BruceDavison), who is plagued by financial troubles and his own abusive family, receives a computer sent by his beloved deceased nephew prior to his death that has the ability to change reality.

* BigBrotherBully: According to Richard, his brother used to do every horrible thing concievable to him when he was alive. That alone tells you he wasn't a good person in life.
* DeceasedParentsAreTheBest: Played with. It's more like "Deceased Sister-in-Law and Nephews are the best". Richard's nephew was a bright and promising genius, and the boy's mother was beautiful as she was kind.
* EarnYourHappyEnding: Richard no longer has to put up with a reality where the girl of his dreams married and had a family with his awful brother, and his own wife and kid are no better. Thanks to the Word Processor, he's married to that wonderful woman, and her genius son is their own son now.

** Whilst Richard's away, his wife Adelina [[ItsAllAboutMe complains about the costly funeral arrangements]] of Richard's brother, nephew and sister-in-law, instead of treating it sensitively like the tragedy it is. She also implies she only married Richard for the prospect of his book-writing career, showing she's a gold digger as well as a cheapskate.

* BigBrotherBully: According to Richard, his brother used to do every horrible thing concievable to him when he was alive. That alone tells you he wasn't a good person in life.

!The Word Processor if the Gods

-> Written By: Michael [=McDowell=]
-> Adapted From: A short story by Creator/StephenKing

** Richard tries to ask his son Seth to help out with heavy boxes like any father would a willing son. Instead, whilst occupied with practicing his guitar, Seth loudly grouses "Later!"